[img]2505|right|||no_popup[/img]The best news to emerge from last evening’s gala fundraiser for Najee Ali, the friendliest community activist in Los Angeles, was delivered by the guest of honor himself.
Attired in his familiar dark-colored silk shirt and trousers, telegraphing authentic grins toward a flood of old and new friends, he glided about the patio of the Post & Beam restaurant in Crenshaw almost as if he were on skates.
Unless you knew him, closely, you never would have guessed that Mr. Ali was fresh from his latest weekly chemo treatments for Stage 3 lymphoma since chemo often slows its recipients.
He is facing six more months of chemo as he has confronted tasks for more than 50 years, with an heroic facade that inspires others.
He shares an office with a giant of a man, the Rev. K,W. Tulloss, Western Regional Director of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network.
“I am here today to uplift and encourage a friend and a brother we love, Najee,” said the Rev. Tulloss. “He has been my friend for many years. When I first got into the activist business, Najee was the one who embraced me, and he has been a big brother ever since.
“He is always persistent, always on the front lines. He has always installed a sense of leadership, and a love for the people. His love for people is genuine.”
This, said the Rev. Tulloss, may be Mr. Ali’s most sterling asset:
“at each event that we do, everything Najee does is pure. This is because it is all from his heart. His love and his passion resonates in my soul every day.”
Unlike many of his fellow community, in-the-streets activists, Mr. Ali does not often fund his image showing up in news photos. “So much that he does does not get recognized,” said the Rev. Tulloss. “He does this for his love of the people. He is a fighter for the people. Anytime we see him in the media, we realize he is the one bringing justice and light to a dark situation.”
Mr. Ali, proprietor of the most beaming and longest lasting smile on the Post & Bean premises, was asked what he would say to those who are ill and depressed.
“I am not depressed,” the courageous activist said convincingly. “I have dozens of friends here who give me emotional and spiritual support in helping me deal with the cancer.
“It is important that others who are ill don’t isolate.
“They should continue to go about their daily routines, and to have the support of their family and loved ones to help insure that they can beat the disease. Or at best, make it manageable.”
Mr. Ali says that if he looks elevated at all times, it is because that is the real person, that is what is going on inside of him.
“Spirituality is very important to me. I believe God can heal all illness. I believe God will bless me to have my illness cured. I keep praying that he will heal my illness and that of others. Prayer works.
“I want to have the proper mindset, that I am going to beat cancer. Ninety percent of the battle,” Mr. Ali said, “is mental.”
